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Installing Moodle
From MoodleDocs Main page Installation Installing Moodle Installation Installing Moodle Installation Quickstart Cron Installing plugins Installation FAQ Upgrading Upgrading to Moodle 2.2 Git guide CVS guide Verify Database Schema Upgrading FAQ Moodle migration
Don't panic! This page explains how to install Moodle. Moodle runs on a large number of different configurations which are (mostly) explained in linked pages. Please take the time to find and read the parts that are relevant to you. If you are an expert and/or in a hurry try Installation Quickstart. If you are upgrading from a previous version go to Upgrading to Moodle 2.2 If you just want to try Moodle on a standalone machine there are 'one-click' installers for Windows (see Complete install packages for Windows) and for OSX (see Complete Install Packages for Mac OS X). These are unsuitable for production servers.
Contents
1 Planning 2 Requirements 2.1 Hardware 2.2 Software 2.2.1 Client 2.3 Also read.... 3 Set up your server
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4 Download and copy files into place 5 Create an empty database 6 Create the (moodledata) data directory 6.1 Securing moodledata in a web directory 7 Start Moodle install 7.1 Command line installer 7.2 Web based installer 8 Final configuration 8.1 Settings within Moodle 8.2 Remaining tasks 8.3 Installation is complete :) 8.4 If something goes wrong... 9 Platform specific instructions 10 See also
Planning
A Moodle installation will require planning. This may vary from almost nothing to a serious project. Here are a few things you might want to consider: Do you really want to install Moodle yourself at all? See Finding and Selecting A Web Host. What skills do you have available to you or are prepared to learn? Administering a secure, stable public web server is a serious undertaking before Moodle even enters the discussion. This documentation assumes that you have (at least) a basic understanding of the platform on which you will be installing Moodle (or are prepared for a learning curve). What are your hardware/hosting requirements? Moodle scales easily but, depending on your requirements, you could be looking at anywhere along the spectrum - shared hosting, dedicated virtual host, your own server, your own multiple server setup. What software platforms will you use? This may depend on your skills or local policies. You may have a free choice. What are your support requirements? Will the free support in the moodle.org forums be sufficient or do you need professional support. How will you organise backups?
Requirements
Moodle is primarily developed in Linux using Apache, MySQL and PHP (also sometimes known as the LAMP platform). If in doubt, this is the safest combination (if for no other reason than being the most common). There are other options - see the Software section that follows: The basic requirements for Moodle are as follows:
Hardware
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Disk space: 160MB free (min) plus as much as you need to store your materials. 5GB is probably a realistic minimum. Backups: at least the same again (at a remote location preferably) as above to keep backups of your site Memory: 256MB (min), 1GB or more is strongly recommended. The general rule of thumb is that Moodle can support 10 to 20 concurrent users for every 1GB of RAM, but this will vary depending on your specific hardware and software combination and the type of use. 'Concurrent' really means web server processes in memory at the same time (i.e. users interacting with the system within a window of a few seconds). It does NOT mean people 'logged in'.
Software
An operating system (!). Anything that runs the following software; although the choice will most likely depend on the performance you need and the skills you have available. Linux and Windows are the most common choices (and good support is available). If you have a free choice, Linux is generally regarded to be the optimal platform. Moodle is also regularly tested with Windows XP/2000/2003, Solaris 10 (Sparc and x64), Mac OS X and Netware 6 operating systems. Web server. Primarily Apache or IIS. Not fully tested (or supported) but should work are lightttpd (http://www.lighttpd.net/) , nginx (http://nginx.org/) , cherokee (http://www.cherokee-project.com/) , zeus and LiteSpeed (http://litespeedtech.com/) . Moodle will refuse to install on any other web server. Your web server needs to be correctly configured to serve PHP files.The version is not critical but try to use the newest web server build available to you. PHP - The minimum version is currently 5.3.2. A number of extensions are required; see the PHP page for full details. Installation will halt at the environment check if any of the required extensions are missing. A database. MySQL and PostgreSQL are the primary development database, the most comprehensively tested and have extensive documentation and support. Oracle and MSSQL are fully supported (note that optional plugins may be untested with these databases) but documentation and online help are not as comprehensive as MySQL/PostgreSQL. SQLite support is experimental. If in doubt use MySQL (more documentation) or PostgreSQL (better stability/performance). You will need the appropriate PHP extension (configured if need be) for your chosen database. MySQL - minimum version 5.0.25 PostgreSQL - minimum version 8.3 MSSQL - minimum version 9.0 Oracle - minimum version 10.2 SQLite - minimum version 2.0 Client Your clients/users access Moodle from a web browser on their PC/tablet/notepad. Any modern browser should work (but Internet Explorer version 6 and earlier are NOT supported). The operating system is not important but you may need software to read files that you upload (e.g. if you upload Microsoft Word files then all your users need software to read Word files)
Also read....
Especially if you are planning a large or complex installation, read Performance recommendations and (in particular)
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...this fetches a complete copy of the Moodle repository and then switches to the 2.2 Stable branch (latest weekly build). For a fuller discussion see Git for Administrators. OR Pull the code from one of the CVS repositories. See CVS for Administrators. Any of the above should result in a directory called moodle, containing a number of files and folders. You can either place the whole folder in your web server documents directory, in which case the site will be located at http://yourwebserver.com/moodle, or you can copy all the contents straight into the main web server documents directory, in which case the site will be simply http://yourwebserver.com. See the documentation for your system and/or web server if you are unsure. Tip: If you are downloading Moodle to your local computer and then uploading it to your hosted web site, if possible upload the compressed file and decompress at the remote end (check your 'file manager'). Failing that, watch FTP progress carefully for errors or missed files. Secure the Moodle files: It is vital that the files are not writeable by the web server user. For example, on Unix/Linux (as root):
#con- ro /aht/ode hw R ot pt/omol #cmd- 05 /aht/ode ho R 75 pt/omol
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(files are owned by the administrator/superuser and are only writeable by them - readable by everyone else)
Securing moodledata in a web directory If you are using a hosted site and you have no option but to place 'moodledata' in a web accessible directory. You may be able to secure it by creating an .htaccess file in the 'moodledata' directory. This does not work on all systems - see your host/administrator. Create a file called .htaccess containing only the following lines:
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odrdn,lo re eyalw dn fo al ey rm l
The chowns allow the script to write a new config.php file. More information about the options can be found using
#ppisalpp-hl h ntl.h -ep
You will be asked for other settings that have not been discussed on this page - if unsure just accept the defaults. For a full discussion see Administration via command line
Final configuration
Settings within Moodle
There are a number of options within the Moodle Site Administration screens (accessible from the 'Site administration' tab in the 'Settings' block. Here are a few of the more important ones that you will probably want to
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check: Settings > Site administration > Server > Email: Set your smtp server and authentication if required (so your Moodle site can send emails). The support contact for your site is also set on this page. Settings > Site administration > Server > System paths: Set the paths to du, dot and aspell binaries. Settings > Site administration > Server > HTTP: If you are behind a firewall you may need to set your proxy credentials in the 'Web proxy' section. Settings > Site administration > Location > Update timezones: Run this to make sure your timezone information is up to date.
Remaining tasks
Configure Cron: Moodle's background tasks (e.g. sending out forum emails and performing course backups) are performed by a script which you can set to execute at specific times of the day. This is known as a cron script. Please refer to the Cron instructions. Set up backups: See Site backup and Automated course backup. Check mail works: Create a test user with a valid email address and send them a message. Do they receive an email copy of the message? If not, check the settings in Settings > Site administration > Plugins > Message outputs > Email. Secure your Moodle site: Read the Security recommendations.
Installation is complete :)
Create a new course: You can now create a new course and have a play ;-)
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saw (if any); explain what you tried. There is no such thing as 'nothing', even a blank page is something!
See also
Tutorial on choosing a host and setting up moodle via the old cpanel (http://ic.eflclasses.org/tutorials/settingupmoodleonhostingwitholdcpanel.swf) New Video Tutorial- How to Install Moodle on Shared Hosting via cPanel (Not Fantastico) (http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=182086) Video Tutorial - Install Moodle on a Virtual Box from scratch (http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php? d=199542) Retrieved from "http://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Installing_Moodle" Category: Installation This page was last modified on 30 March 2012, at 14:54. Content is available under GNU General Public License.
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